Purpose Statement

The ePCR Incident Status configuration within EMS Setup allows administrators to create, manage, and customize incident status categories that track the progression of electronic Patient Care Reports through various stages of completion and review. This functionality enables departments to establish workflow management systems that align with organizational protocols, quality assurance processes, and regulatory requirements while providing clear visibility into ePCR documentation status across all levels of the organization.

Background Information

Incident status management serves as a critical component of ePCR workflow control, allowing departments to track and manage the lifecycle of patient care documentation from initial creation through final completion and approval. The system includes two default statuses (In Progress and Provider Completed) that are integral to core system functionality and cannot be modified. Additional custom statuses can be created to reflect departmental workflow requirements such as supervisory review, quality assurance evaluation, billing processing, or administrative approval stages. Each custom status includes configurable role-based permissions that control which user roles can change to or from specific statuses, ensuring proper workflow governance and maintaining data integrity throughout the documentation process.

Required Permissions

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Step-By-Step Guide

Best Practices

Do's

• Create incident statuses that reflect your department's actual workflow processes and review stages
• Use clear, descriptive names for custom statuses that all staff members can easily understand
• Assign permissions strategically to maintain proper workflow control and prevent unauthorized status changes
• Test new incident statuses with different user roles before full deployment to ensure proper functionality
• Document the purpose and workflow implications of each custom status for training and reference
• Regularly review and clean up unused or outdated incident statuses to maintain system efficiency
• Coordinate status creation with quality assurance teams and supervisory staff to ensure alignment with review processes
• Consider the logical flow of statuses from creation to completion when designing your workflow

Don'ts

• Don't create excessive numbers of incident statuses that may complicate workflow or confuse users
• Don't assign broad permissions that bypass necessary review or approval processes
• Don't delete incident statuses that are currently in use without first changing existing ePCRs to alternative statuses
• Don't create status names that are vague or could be misinterpreted by staff
• Don't modify or disable statuses during peak operational hours without proper communication
• Don't assign status change permissions to roles that shouldn't have workflow control authority
• Don't create conflicting permission structures that prevent proper status progression
• Don't remove default system statuses (In Progress, Provider Completed) as these are required for core functionality

Tips & Recommendations

• Implement a logical status progression that mirrors your department's actual review and approval workflow
• Consider creating statuses for specific review stages such as "Medical Director Review" or "Training Officer Review"
• Use bulk management features for efficiently updating multiple statuses when restructuring workflows
• Regularly audit status usage through reporting to identify unused or underutilized statuses
• Train staff on the meaning and implications of each status to ensure consistent usage across the department
• Consider creating temporary statuses for special circumstances or pilot programs that can be evaluated and made permanent
• Coordinate with billing and administrative teams when creating statuses related to financial or compliance processes
• Maintain a status workflow diagram for training purposes and to help new staff understand the documentation process

Troubleshooting & FAQs

Q: I created a new incident status but it's not appearing in the ePCR dropdown. What could be wrong?
A: Verify that the new status was successfully saved by checking the incident status list in EMS Setup. Clear your browser cache and refresh the ePCR interface. Also confirm that your user role has permissions to use the new status based on the "Allow Change To" settings.

Q: Users are reporting they can't change an ePCR to a specific status even though they should have access. How can I resolve this?
A: Check the permissions configuration for that incident status in EMS Setup. Verify that the user's role is included in the "Allow Change To" permissions for the target status. Also confirm that their current user role has the "Update incident status for completed/authorized reports" permission.

Q: Can I modify the default "In Progress" and "Provider Completed" statuses?
A: No, these two default statuses are integral to the system's core functionality and cannot be edited, deleted, or deactivated. They are required for the basic ePCR workflow and must remain as configured by the system.

Q: I accidentally deleted an incident status that was being used. Can I recover it?
A: Deleted incident statuses cannot be recovered through the system interface. You'll need to recreate the status with the same name and permission configuration. Contact technical support if the deleted status is causing issues with existing ePCRs that were using that status.

Q: The bulk delete function isn't working when I select multiple statuses. What should I check?
A: Ensure that you're selecting the checkboxes next to each status rather than clicking on the status names. Verify that none of the selected statuses are currently in use by active ePCRs, as the system may prevent deletion of statuses with dependencies. Try selecting fewer statuses at a time if the bulk operation fails.

Q: How can I determine which incident statuses are actually being used by our department?
A: Navigate to the EMS Incident List and use the incident status filter dropdown to see which statuses contain ePCRs. You can also generate reports or work with your system administrator to query the database for usage statistics on different incident statuses to inform cleanup decisions.

Related Articles

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2. Configuring EMS QA/QI
   
3. Resolving QA/QI comments - Crew Members
   
4. Performing a QA/QI Review